The nursing program at Columbia Gorge Community College was recently awarded an eight-year accreditation extension – the maximum allowable — from the Oregon State Board of Nursing.
The program is now certified through 2023.
“I thought the board was going to have a lot of questions, they told me to be ready for that, but they didn’t,” said Doris Jepson, director of the nursing and health occupations programs.
The June 22 re-certification was the culmination of a yearlong process to prepare and submit a self-study, and host a two and one-half day site visit by Joy Ingwerson, OSBN representative, who is a policy analyst for nursing education and assessment.
Ingwerson’s report to the OSBN Board found no deficiencies in CGCC’s nursing program.
“The high level of community and college support for the program was evident throughout the survey activities,” she reported. “Multiple graduates of the program were found in local clinical facilities holding a wide variety of positions. The program was started based on a foundation of community support which is still seen today.”
Ingwerson’s report included several commendations for Jepson and the nursing faculty for work done in building and maintaining the program. She praised CGCC for providing “strong pre-nursing advising support and other learning support services.”
“We are very honored and excited to receive approval, for the maximum amount of time, from the OSBN,” said Jepson. “It validates the work that the CGCC board of Education, faculty, and staff are doing in our region to provide a top notch nursing program, and confirms our community partner’s high regard and continued support of this vital training program.”
The CGCC board agreed at its July 14 meeting, unanimously passing a resolution recognizing the high quality of the nursing program’s faculty and staff and highlighting their accomplishments in receiving the certification extension.
“Eight years ago, when the program was accredited for eight years, the board recognized that accomplishment with a resolution,” said CGCC President Frank Toda, whose contract with the college was extended to two years following a vote of confidence from the board in May.
“This is a great thing for the program, and the college.”
The CGCC nursing program began in the fall of 2001 and has graduated 236 students. In 2014, it was one of only four nursing programs in the state whose registered nurse graduates had a 100 percent national licensure exam pass rate on first-time attempts.
Eighty percent of the program’s graduates have obtained their first job after licensure in the Columbia Gorge region, with 19 local facilities or employers.
All program graduates have the option of completing a bachelor of science in Nursing through a variety of schools, including a co-admission option with Linfield College’s School of Nursing Adult Degree Program and an articulation and transfer agreement with Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) School of Nursing.
For more information on the CGCC Nursing program, visit www.cgcc.edu/nursing-health-occupations/nursing.
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